Stephen Szczurko-Walton

Stephen Szczurko-Walton served in the U.S. Navy from 2015 to 2024. Szczurko-Walton earned a high school diploma from Summit Preparatory Charter High School, a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014, and a graduate degree from State University of New York, Empire State College in 2025. Szczurko-Walton's career experience includes working as a technician.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a Navy veteran. For nine and a half years I served as a nuclear reactor operator, deploying three times aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, once to the Middle East against ISIS and twice to the South China Sea for freedom of navigation operations. I grew up in the Bay Area, the son of a receptionist and a machinist, and I put myself through UC Santa Barbara with help from family and friends, working campus security, the retail floors at Office Depot and Nordstrom, and a froyo shop, before I joined the Navy in 2015. After my last deployment, my wife and I started our family in upstate New York, where I finished my term of service and earned a Master of Public Administration. We moved to Auburn to raise our son near both of our families and to put down roots in the 31st. I've worked as an HVAC technician here in Washington. I'm running for state House because service didn't end when I hung up the uniform, and because my son deserves to grow up in a community where neighbors still know each other and people are treated with dignity and respect.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I'm running because the cost of living in the 31st has outrun what working families can keep up with: healthcare, housing costs, and energy prices are climbing faster than paychecks. I will not stop until I bring those costs back down to earth for the average worker in Washington.There is a bill, SB 6358, which would end Citizens United's hold on Washington elections by stripping non-human entities—corporations, unions, non-profits—of the right to spend money swaying our elections. I will work ceaselessly to get a bill like that through both houses, because the corporate takeover of our elections is eroding the fabric of our republic.I ran a Navy reactor for nine years, so I know how important energy is. It's what keeps hospitals, homes, and schools running. I'll fight to modernize the grid and to properly staff, fund, and empower the Utilities and Transportation Commission with a real mandate to manage the clean-energy transition. It's under-resourced for the scale of the job, and fixing that is one of the highest-return investments we can make for ratepayers. My goal is simple: power that stays plentiful, reliable, and affordable for every Washingtonian.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Affordability: housing, healthcare costs, and Washington's regressive tax structure; campaign finance reform and government accountability; and energy policy: grid modernization and keeping every safe, firm, clean power source on the table.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

The 31st Legislative District Democrats

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